Every month, United Methodists around the world are doing incredible things—serving neighbors, rebuilding communities and sharing the love of God in creative ways. The Recap shares those stories each month, giving you and your congregation a glimpse of how our global connection is living out our mission.
A global look at the Church in action
Launched by United Methodist Communications in 2022, The Recap provides a worldwide perspective on the work of The United Methodist Church. The series celebrates the denomination’s diverse ministries while building awareness of initiatives happening across the connection.
United Methodist Communications produces 10 episodes of The Recap each year. Each installment runs for about four to five minutes and is produced by United Methodist Communications.
Featured stories reflect the global nature of the United Methodist connection, with coverage from Africa, Europe, the Philippines and the United States. Topics range from evangelism and mission to outreach, disaster relief, and advocacy. Each episode also includes links to more detailed stories and ministry resources.
“We usually highlight recent stories from United Methodist News and UMC.org,” shares Laura Buchanan, lead member content creator at United Methodist Communications “After developing a storyboard, we film our hosts. Our production team then edits the final video, incorporating images and clips from the featured stories. We share the video on YouTube, our website and Facebook to reach as many United Methodists as possible so we can all celebrate our shared mission.”
Connecting with Congregations and Conferences
The Recap offers United Methodists a quick and accessible way to see the denomination’s global impact and diversity. Videos are short, easy to follow and organized by story segments on the YouTube playlist—allowing viewers to jump directly to the topics that interest them most.
Church leaders can make use of The Recap in a variety of ways:
- Share the videos on your church’s social media channels or in e-newsletters
- Play them on screens in welcome areas to help members and visitors learn more about the worldwide ministries of The UMC
- Use episodes in Sunday school classes, committee meetings or other church gatherings
- Incorporate specific stories into presentations or worship moments to inspire your congregation.
Conference leaders can also benefit from The Recap:
- Share videos through conference e-newsletters or social media
- Post/embed episodes on conference websites
- Play episodes at annual conference gatherings, both to celebrate the work of the connection and provide inspirational stories for lay and clergy delegates to take back to their congregations
- Show entire episodes or specific story segments during training events or leadership gatherings for inspiration
A Simple Way to Share the Mission
The Recap provides an easy and engaging way to celebrate how The United Methodist Church is fulfilling its mission to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. By spotlighting stories of faith, service and hope from every corner of the connection, The Recap reminds viewers that they are part of something larger—a worldwide movement of people living out God’s love in countless ways. The Recap offers a meaningful window into the heart of the denomination’s ministry today.